North Korea is not just a U.S. problem, it’s the world’s problem: Heather Nauert
President Trump had strong warnings for North Korea in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, telling world leaders, “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that the administration is continuing to work on diplomatic and economic options to stop the threat from North Korea.
“Diplomacy is the preferred option, when I say that, that means we still have a lot of tools in our tool kit that we can deal with North Korea. A lot of people like to focus on the military option, but at the State Department where I work, we’re pushing forward with the diplomacy,” Nauert said on Mornings with Maria.
According to Nauert, the State Department has been stepping up efforts to stop the money flowing into North Korea.
“From a business point of view, we’re really focusing on removing the money that goes into North Korea, that goes into Kim Jong Un’s regime, into the nuclear and ballistic missile programs, that are illegal by the way, and trying to solve the problem of getting money out of that nation, he doesn’t share it with his people.”
One method employed by the State Department limits the number of North Korean guest workers in other countries.
“What these people do, they go to these nations and they’ll do construction jobs, but does the money go into their own pockets? The answer is, without a doubt, no. It is confiscated, the vast majority of it, by North Korea.”
Nauert says there have been efforts to remove North Korean diplomats from other countries as well.
“In terms of what we call the peaceful pressure campaign, we’re still pushing ahead with that and we’re seeing a lot of success. You will see small headlines not getting a lot of news about different nations kicking out an ambassador, cutting down the number of guest workers and you see it every single day.”
Nauert pointed out that North Korea is not just a concern for the United States.
“This is not the United States’ problem with North Korea, it’s the world’s problem with North Korea.”
Nauert says the Trump administration is also reviewing the nuclear deal the Obama administration signed with Iran.
“This nuclear deal failed to look at the totality of all the bad actions that Iran is responsible for and so we think a broader approach, a broader look at Iran is necessary as we look forward to trying to have world security.”